Snapshots
by St. Aelphaba
Summary: Jane is looking for incriminating photos from the last shopping trip on Maura's laptop and finds more than she expected. Rizzles


A/N: I had an idea for a fic completely different from this one, but this was the result...and I think it turned out better than the original idea anyway. At least, I hope so. Please review!

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_Where is that file?_

Jane was a PC person, utterly lost on Maura's Mac. She knew there were pictures from their last shopping trip somewhere on this shiny white laptop and she needed to find and delete them before it got out that she had modeled a baby blue dress for Maura.

_Pictures…That's gotta be where it is_, thought Jane, clicking on Maura's _Pictures_ folder.

She was greeted with a drop-down menu of files, arranged in alphabetical order from _Anatomical Figures_ to _Yearbook Scans from High School_.

Jane scanned the extensive list. _Baby Pictures_ – no, that couldn't be it, but Jane thought to herself that it was cute that Maura was so sentimental to have her whole life stored in this computer. She wondered what baby Maura looked like but decided to leave that for another time. Maura was only going to be out of her room for a few minutes, and precious minutes could not be wasted.

Jane continued skimming down the list so quickly that she nearly skipped over a folder named simply, _Jane_.

_This might be where it's hidden_, mused Jane. She double-clicked the folder and started going through the files.

Photo after photo was of Jane – some old, some new. Many of them, Jane had never seen before. A picture of Jane grinning goofily at the camera, a touch of ice cream on her nose; behind her, the good-natured atmosphere of the ice cream parlor down the block from the station. Jane remembered this day. It was during a particularly demanding case mid-August this year. The ice cream parlor became their temporary sanctuary – a place of reprieve from the stress of work.

A picture of Jane and Maura crammed into the frame together, all forehead, with widened eyes and pouty lips. This was from the time Jane had taught Maura the art – well, rather, the ridiculousness – of the 'myspace duck-face' photo. She had instructed Maura on how to pull her lips into the poofiest, most unattractive pout possible, like a duck. She had pulled Maura close and held the camera at an arm's length, holding her face and snapping the photo. She remembered now how it had taken a few tries to get the shot right, and by the end the two were in hysterics. She could see the laughter in both of their eyes on the computer screen.

In contrast to the happy tone the first two photos set, there was an old photo of Jane's hands, revealing the damage Hoyt had only then recently inflicted. The scars were still bright pink and healing. Jane remembered the anguish she felt every time she looked at the scars. She barely knew Maura back then, but even then Maura was still the one Jane came to for comfort. Maura was the only one who didn't wince at the sight of her scars. Maura was the only one who didn't show any sign of discomfort at the very reminder that Jane had been broken. Her hands were steady at the time when Jane's could not be.

Jane paused to look thoughtfully at the angry pink marks on her hands on the screen and then look down at the faded white scars that were on her hands now.

And then she turned her attention back to the screen.

Most of the photos were of Jane smiling. A few stood out to her, like the shot of her flipping the bird at the camera with a frustrated look on her face, or the one of her face as she tried sushi for the very first time. There were a few of her with her arms around Maura in a hug. There was even a photo of her hands holding Maura's own. She lost track of time, sifting her way through all the photos Maura had taken the time to arrange in this folder. It was only when she stumbled across the photo she was looking for that she remembered why she was looking.

_Aha_, she thought, smiling grimly to herself as she looked over the picture of her in that baby blue monstrosity. Maura had said it would soften her features, and Maura was right – she looked like a frilly girl. It certainly wasn't Jane, though it was pretty in its own way. Jane hovered the mouse over the _delete_ button. _Should I –_ ?

She glanced at the photo again and thought about these pictures. Very few – in fact, probably only one or two – of them had made their way to Facebook. Why would Maura put this one up? Jane sighed and decided to come back to it. She clicked on the next file in the folder. It was Jane in the light blue dress again, only this time it was close up. She had a vacant, happy expression on her face. The photo was taken at an angle so that the shadows in the dressing room made her features appear striking. Her eyes were focused on the distance as if she had no idea the snapshot was being made. Jane dimly remembered Maura pointing the camera at her, but other than that the photo was completely candid. Jane hated to admit it because she considered herself to be no beauty, but the photo's frank documentation of her looked like a beautiful piece of art.

_I guess I won't delete these photos_, thought Jane. _Unless they appear on Facebook, in which case I'll get Frost to hack into her account and delete them_.

Jane stared at the photo and bit her lip.

_Why does Maura have this folder, anyway_?

Something in Jane told her not to ask Maura when she got back. This was a folder on Maura's computer filled with photos of Jane. These were photos Maura had taken the time to compile. This was personal. Suddenly Jane felt as though she was intruding on Maura's privacy, though these pictures were all of her. She quickly backed out of the _Jane_ folder and clicked on _Baby Pictures_.

_I guess Maura's business is Maura's business_, Jane thought, perplexed. She tried to enjoy the picture of a young bespectacled Maura with her nose in a large book that Jane even now wouldn't read by choice, but the thought itched at her. _Why is it Maura's business, though_?

_Because we're friends and the pictures suggest something more than friendly_. The thought came to Jane suddenly; as if it was so obvious that she had overlooked it before now. Jane frowned, looking at but not seeing a photo of six-year-old Maura grinning at the camera.

_Oh_.

It made sense. In fact, Jane wasn't shocked or upset at all by it. Maybe that was how it was. Maybe what the photos suggested was the truth.

_Well that's not something I thought of before_, thought Jane. She wasn't sure what to do. _Do I ask Maura about it? Do I want to address it_?

_Are we already dating, and I just didn't know it yet_?

The snapshots seemed to suggest a long-term, very intimate relationship between two women. Jane wondered …

"Maura!" she called into the other room. Maura's head popped out of the bathroom; one side of her hair was curled, but the other was not.

"Yes, Jane?"

"C'mere."

Maura glanced around.

"Can it wait, Jane?" she asked. "I really have to finish my hair."

"No, Maura," said Jane. "I don't care how your hair looks. Just c'mere." She patted the space on the bed beside her. Maura edged over, obviously disconcerted by the current unevenness of her hair.

"What is it?" Maura asked, glancing at the computer. Jane closed it. Baby pictures had nothing to do with the question; she needed to ask it from her mind, not the screen.

"I just have a question," Jane said with a sigh. "Are we … I mean to say, are we … ?"

Jane's voice wavered; her nerves were getting the better of her. Though this new idea of her relationship with Maura did not come as a surprise to her, it did seem kind of massive. Maura tilted her head and looked at Jane questioningly.

"Are we what?" Maura asked.

"Dating," Jane said quickly and breathlessly before repeating in a louder, more confident (she hoped) voice, "Are we dating?"

Maura looked taken aback.

"Not that I know of," she said. She ran her hand through her hair nervously. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I mean … " Jane said, "I mean, uhh… _Should_ we be?"

This was what it all boiled down to. It seemed so simple. Yes, they should be. Yes, they almost were. This was why Maura had that _Jane_ folder, with all those snapshots of the two together and Jane alone. This was why Jane had tried on that dress for Maura, which led her to this discovery in the first place. Yes, they should be dating. Jane could feel herself shaking. She closed her eyes, the monstrosity of this question hitting her now.

A quiet voice came from next to her.

"I can't lie, Jane."

"I don't want you to."

"I don't want our friendship to change," Maura said, her voice becoming more of a whisper as she went on.

"I do." Jane's voice was loud and clear and rang through the room. Her eyes were still closed, but she could feel Maura move closer and take her hand.

"Jane … "

Jane opened her eyes and looked into Maura's big insecure ones. She squeezed Maura's hand reassuringly.

"I want to kiss you," Jane whispered, "but I'm afraid of how you'll react. So you have to tell me if it's okay before I do. Because it's either I kiss you now, or I don't and we can pretend this conversation never happened."

Maura's eyes fell from Jane's eyes to her lips, and she licked her own.

"What'll it be, Doc?" Jane asked, amused at the fact that, for the first time ever, Maura seemed to be at a loss for words.

Maura's hand found its way to Jane's cheek and caressed.

"Yes, Jane," Maura breathed. "Yes, we should be more than friends. Yes, _God_, I want you to kiss me."

Jane smiled and let her lips find Maura's, marveling in how soft they were. She felt a tingle run through her from her lips. She pulled away slowly.

"Why didn't we do this sooner?" she asked. A smile tugged on Maura's lips though the question was left unanswered. She nuzzled into Jane's neck, wrapping her arms around Jane. The two sat together in silence for a time before Maura interrupted it.

"Where did all of this come from?"

Jane glanced down at the laptop quickly and remembered how she had decided not to tell Maura about finding the _Jane_ folder. Even after _this_, invading Maura's files felt wrong. She smiled and said what had been going through her mind this whole time:

"It's about time the pieces fell together."

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A/N: My birthday was last week and you know what would be a fantastic (if belated) present?

That's right. A review. That's what's on my wish list.

It doesn't cost money, only 10 seconds of your time. :P


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